Aswan............

Wednesday, Nov 21, Aswan:

Another early awakening alarm……DAMN……is this a vacation???? When 5:15 rolled around this morning I asked myself this question…and then I realized that this is NOT a vacation but a way of my Life……..the ability to travel and see as much of the world as possible, learning about the peoples, their cultures, and their histories……and THAT I am doing!!

Sooooo, feeling better than I have since Sunday, we packed things up to disembark from the boat. Quickly we went to the dining room for breakfast….and just to be certain I was feeling good, I only ate a couple of rolls and bread. Oh yes…….the dark, dark coffee that they have on the boat (can’t really call it a ship….not THAT large)….and the coffee is not really too bad. Just sometimes a flavor that lingers NOT soooo pleasantly on the palette.

We boarded our mini-bus……nine of the group of 11 that we have been with since we boarded the boat in Luxor…..and headed for the 8:30AM flight to Abu Simbel. This tiny village became more of what we call a small town…..AFTER, the High Dam was built and the lake began to creep up onto the Temples of Ramses II and the other one which he built for his favorite wife(concubine?). Soooooo, thanks to the entire world and with the organization of UNESCO, these temples were slowly cut apart, labeled, and moved up and away from the encroaching waters of Lake Nasser.

The flight across the desert to the south of Aswan took a little less than an hour….and the Airbus 320 was packed….TIGHTLY!!!! Upon arriving we were just a few miles from Sudan….the infamous country of Dafur where the genocides and other atrocities are taking place daily. We boarded another bus and in just a few short moments we were arriving at the parking area of the Temples.

A brief walk and OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What an absolutely incredible sight!!!!! What an absolutely UNBELIEVEABLE sight!!!!! The main temples is soooooo huge, with mammoth statues of Ramses II seated in front of the entrance to the Temple. They over look the world’s largest man-made lake…and the scale between the two is perfect!!!! We ambled up to the entrance to the Temple….our mouths still hanging open from seeing this place. Upon entering…….well….I just don’t know what to say here. I have never seen anything like this……the entrance was flanked by four more Ramses II statues on each side of the hallway….and the walkway behind the statues, the interior rooms, EVERYWHERE…….were the most astonishing hieroglyphics I’ve seen….anywhere!!!! AND……many, many of them were still in various colors….after these thousands of years.

The Temples were covered with sand until the 1800’s when they were discovered by the same individual who discovered the ancient city of Petra, Jordan…..where we will fly to this weekend (Sunday). And so, they had to be dug out of the desert…..literally!!! All of us just stood in awe of what we were seeing………..this Temple is the highlight of this entire trip…..as of now. I know that I have said it before……..but nothing I’ve seen can compare of the artwork on the stone walls of this temple…..not to mention those HUGE statues outside the entrance. I purchased a small booklet with lots of pictures which I will scan and put on this little blog when we return next week…….pictures cannot be taken inside the temples.

Only having less than two hours before our flight back to Aswan was to leave, we sadly left this beautiful Temple and walked to the one built for Nefertari, Ramses’ favorite lover/wife/concubine. Oh yeah…….just a magnificent!!!!!!! Again…..I’m at a loss for words to help you understand what my eyes have seen….and why my mind cannot comprehend this…….realizing that no one knows how any of this was chiseled and carved out of the mountain where it was found.

Reluctantly we quickly returned to the bus and then it was a quick trip back to the airport, intense security…..which I DO need to write about…..and off we went through the bright skies with the desert below for about 25 minutes…..a MUCH quicker trip back to Aswan.

Upon arriving we were transferred to our hotel for tonight…..and OMG…..WHAT a place. We are sitting up above the Nile River with the huge boulders and islands here and there in the River….and the many, many Feluccas sailing up and down the river. A brilliant day…..and a mouth-dropping view from the balcony of our room right above the gardens of the hotel and the Nile River below!!!! ASWAN is ASTONISHING!!!!!!

The 1st Lady and I had a late lunch in one of the several great restaurants in the hotel….and then we set out to explore. We walked for a couple of hours and then we soon decided to take a water taxi across part of the Nile to Elephantine Island…..where the ancient tribe of Nubians now live…….an African tribe who lived in the Sudan until the Nile was backed up by the High Dam to from Lake Nasser.

This place was something else!!!!! Poverty, new homes, goats, dirt streets and paths between buildings that were about to fall down, BUT…….many were painted in bright colors and their doorways were always in the best shape of any other part of the houses.

Rounding a corner and not knowing whether we run headlong into a herd of goats going down the narrow streets or bump into others who were exploring this place, a gentleman in a white galabaiya (sp?) approached us, leaning on his cane and holding out his hand, he introduced himself as the Chief of the Nubian Tribe/City……and asked us to come into his house! Ok……not knowing if this was on the “up and up”, we hesitated and so I began to question him about his Life, etc., etc. and decided he was on authentic. I HAD read about him on one of the internet travel discussion forums, so I began to realize that he was ok. Soooo, we went him inside his two story home……..concrete and not much else, except arts and crafts that his people make to make a few coins to exist.

After looking at what he had, we followed him upstairs to the balcony where there were more crafts. He invited us to join him for tea……but fearing the water cleanliness, we politely declined, but talked to him for a while more. Felt bad about not purchasing anything I palmed him some money as we left. HAHAHA….NOT as much as he wanted us to give him, but like everywhere else here in Egypt, poverty runs rampant, and everyone is wanting “baksheesh”…….money. Oh well…….I do feel sorry and much compassion for them, but I can’t afford to just hand out money upon request.

And sooooo, the 1st Lady, who I forgot to mention was VERY un-nerved about stepping out of the boat ferry on to this little island,…..well, we head back down to the ferry and returned to the other side of the Nile and walked to our hotel. Stopping along the way, we toured the Coptic Orthodox Church……a beautiful building from the outside, but not very pretty inside….rather plain. Guess I have seen tooooo many European Cathedrals……huh????

And so, our day of traveling across the desert further to the south in Egypt, viewing the magnificent Temples of Ramses II, visiting the Nubian Village in the middle of the Nile River…….it has come to an end. There IS an internet connection downstairs in the hotel which is only $12 per hour, sooooooo I will get as much posted as I can!!!!

Hey……..my body is tired, my eyes are drooping, but I am sooooooooo excited at what I have viewed and learned today here in southern Egypt!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My entire way of thinking about ancient peoples on this earth have been changed in this past week……..and I realize that perhaps we are not any more intelligent than they were thousands of years ago……..just more advanced with technology. I once again realize that I am sooooo thankful for the works of all kinds of ART…….because without ART and it’s various mediums……we would have absolutely no knowledge of ancient history!!!

I sit here typing this into my little lappie, who by the way is YEARNING to be hooked up to the world and cyberspace in just a few minutes to send to all of you this bit of my Life and travels…….AND YET……coming in through our French doors along with the cool night air and from across the city are the calls to prayer from the tops of the minarets that tower above the city of Aswan…..the calls to prayer of a religion that has served this part of the world VERY WELL over the many, many centuries……and it is religion that must be respected by everyone, and not just be condemned by the Westerners because of the extremists that are out on the fringes of this religion. After all……….we, too, have the same extremists and radicals in our Christian religion…………..just think about it!

The Egyptians are the most friendly people I have ever met in my travels around the world…..and they always welcome us with huge smiles and a big “WELCOME!!” everywhere!!! They DO love America and Americans…..and it is soooo evident once you are here. A beautiful day today……….a wonderful day…….an incredible day…….and….

LIFE IS SOOOOOOOOOOO GREAT!!!!!!!!!……And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!!!!